52
by Taft
Summary: Samus Aran, Snake, and Pit must hunt down prey across the galaxy...
1. Chapter 1

_52_

Spring days are pretty, Samus thought. Too pretty to be summoned to do the kind of work she was probably here to do. The building in front of her was a nondescript egg carton like many of the other government buildings in New New York. It defied the day with its stern demeanor and hard lines. Walking towards the door she noticed that unlike the others, however, this building had no name on it. Walking in she checked her chronograph and noted that she was a little late. Inside she spotted the receptionist, a mousy woman who asked if she had an appointment. "Yes, I got this card" Samus said, fumbling in her purse. The woman behind the desk waited patiently until she located the card and showed it to her. The woman lean forward "Your two o'clock is here, sir"

Bright dead lights shone in the office. All the technological advances in illumination and still the government bought the hardest, most uncomfortable light. The office was economical and neat. The desk was clear, a first for Samus who was used to seeing bureaucrats with clutter and Chinese fire drill in the background. This office looked liked it had just been set up and awaiting the staff to fill the cubicles thought the door behind her. She looked out the window and watched as other buildings with other bureaucrats scurried about like a hive of humanoid and not so humanoid ants scurry about their business.

"Ms. Aran, how good to finally meet you"

Startled, she swung around to see a man the chair behind the desk.

He was a nondescript man. He wore a dark suit with his brown hair in a crew cut, his eyes a cold blue-green, his skin pale almost translucent. He spoke in an odd manner his commanding voice raspy, morose.

"Nice to meet you, Mister…" She trailed off

He smiled. "That's not important right now, but you may refer to me as agent or sir if you like." He had a strangle tendency to emphasize his syllables and change his pitch at odd moments.

"Okay, Sir" she said respectfully. This guy didn't look threatening, but something about him suggested a very good reason to be afraid.

He smiled a little wider "What is important is that you done some fine work in the past, and we need someone of your talents"

"What's the job?"

"Something I think you will find very interesting."

Five hours later

Samus read the file again, starting to believe her good luck. A big contract, fifty-two heads at base rate of one hundred twenty thousand for the numbers. Numbers, as in cards. An old gimmick at this point, but a bounty hunter always had use for cards. Faces were five million, and one hundred million for Aces. Then there was the Main target. That unlucky joker was worth one billion to the Galactic Federation. She also got something she could do without, namely "help". Some wigged out government assassin and a servant of the goddess Palutena. Two mouths that eat her profit margin and months of headache trying to collect their expenses from some CPA with a serious superiority complex. She read on, finding the joker. The big tamale of this bounty was a revolutionary named Ganondorf Dragmire. He first showed up trying to incite revolution on a backwards planet known as Hyrule some two galactic decades ago. Since then he gained more far reaching ambitions, even going so far as to pick up the pieces of the Space Pirates (Samus glowered at this) and formed a gang with his old tribal supporters and various local interests.

_Aboard the patrol craft Discovery_

"So why don't we just take him out?"

"Snake, you know we can't do that. Even if we knew where he was, his affiliates would still be running around. Taking him out would only sever their ties to each other and make it even harder to get them."

"Also most of his affiliates are currently attacking Federation citizens and destroying massive amounts of property."

Snake sighed, exasperated. Things were never simple. Years of fighting had tired him out although no one seemed to believe that.

Mei Ling smiled at him. "Well, it's not like you had anything else to do."

"Doesn't mean I want to do _this_." Snake growled.

"You are a soldier, Snake" Campbell scowled "And don't start with that "I race dogs now" garbage. The first thing you did after Shadow Moses Island was start a international group to hunt down Metal Gears for whom the only way you get things done is by having you sneak around and kill people. Now, you say that is a necessity, I say that is convenient excuse."

Snake seethed. That old argument was a powerful one, one he still hadn't a counter to.

_Sky Palace _

_The Hall of Judgment_

_Angel Land_

"For your sake I shall forbid the locust to raze your crops and the vine in the field shall not be barren, with joy you shall draw the water of salvation, bring forth food so my house is filled with it and let every good man and righteous woman feast for seven days."

Chorus: "Your will be done, oh Lady of Mercy"

Palutena smiled benevolently. Her flock was singing her praises and faith illuminated every heart. True their numbers were smaller then in some other times, but they were more vibrant then ever.

After they left to attend to her orders, Pit stepped in "You wish to speak to me, oh Light of Existence?"

Palutena exhaled slowly, the previous gaiety gone "Pit, My flock is in trouble. Many beasts wander the stars sowing troubles and discord. I require that you go forth and slay them."

Pit swelled at the hearing of this, his pride grown immensely. The Goddess herself entrusted him with this mighty task.

"Yea shall have assistance."

Pit stiffened. Any glory gained would have to be divvied, if he got any at all.

Palutena looked at him sadly. Any other time his young courage and pride was hearting. But in this task, it could get him killed. "Listen well _young_ warrior, your skills are great but you are not invincible. These beasts are numerous, their skills are also great, and their weapons deadly even to you. Work with the people you are assigned, they have experience far wider then yours. They will need you to help them as well."

Pit nodded. Her wisdom could not be called into question. If she knew he needed help then he would be the fool if he tried going it alone.

"This task is so important, I shall give you the Wings of Icarus, The Arrow of Light, and the Mirror Shield. Use them well as they are not exactly common."

Pit's eyes widened "An honor I shall strive to be worthy of" He gasped, kneeling.

Smiling, Palutena reached over and patted him on the head. "You are one of my most faithful servants, Pit," She cooed "I would be most upset if something were to happen to you."

Pit beamed, his face the picture of delight.

**Two Galactic Standard days later Aboard the Federation Frigate **_**Steadfast**_

Samus surveyed the group in front of her. It didn't look good. Her support was the _Steadfast, _an aging tub that looked like it's best years were behind it. Its crew was veteran, which was nice, but that came with officer staff that a stick permanently stuck up it's neatly uniformed butt. Her "partners" (shiver right there) was guy who looked like he had seen the bottom of too many cheap whiskey bottles and another guy who looked like an extra out of Julius Cesar. She was the only one with her own ship, and that meant she was going to chauffeur these jokers around. A company of marines straight out of basic rounded out these little party lead by a real fierfek of a man named Lieutenant Gorman. They, at lest, had their own transport. Samus _understood _that she led the mission, but someone apparently forgot to give Captain Dallas and Gorman that memo.

"I don't how youse bounty hunters do things, but this ship does by the **book!" **Dallas yelled. "That means we don't just go jumping into hot near space, guns blazing!"

"I didn't suggest that, Captain," Samus biting back every word "But we can't pad foot around. But rapid insertion is just that, rapid. That means jumping a closer then you might be used to."

"And how do you suggest we deal with any near space defenses?" His nasally New York accent cutting into her ears.

"I'm not saying jump right into point blank range, just not line distance. Dradis will pick up any fighter patrols and you men look like they can handle the sort of thing we will be seeing."

"**Arrêt ****quereller! **You been arguing since we got here!" Gorman interjected. "Bon Dieu, give it a rest! Look here, this discussion is going nowhere. Let's start with what we know, who is first up on the block?"

Samus took a deep breath. "The first up is the Clubs." The Holograph in the center of the room light up and displayed various data about the Clubs. "The clubs are members of the Koopa Army. Led a giant turtle named Bowser, they have been terrorizing Mushroom World for about four years now. They weren't much of threat until about two months ago when they launched an all out coup that captured the capital and decapitated both the monarchy and the elected government. The Federation government is trying to keep this under wraps, but the galactic media is starting to get curious."

Snake spoke up "What are federation assets in the area?"

Samus motioned and the screen showed a tactical map of the planet and it's system "Six heavy cruisers, two fleet haulers, about four, five hundred fighters, holding line distance. They are trying also to avoid a bloodbath most undoubtedly result if they just tried a ground siege. We can hook up in geo sync over this island here," The map zoomed in on an island whose distinguishing feature was a tall and narrow mountain with a lake about half way up. She pointed "and meet with a local band of ethnic separatists known as the Yoshi."

"My family used to have a Yoshi!" a marine exclaimed.

"Yeah, you are going to want to keep that secret. They apparently take offense at the notion." Samus retorted dryly, "At any rate, they hate this Bowser with a passion. They have agreed to shield our entry and lead us to the number two, an unpleasant fellow who goes by the name of Big Bomb-omb." A picture of him appeared under Samus's finger, she expanded it and summoned up his information. "We don't know exactly where he is, but the Yoshi mentioned something about a nearby mountain range. We need to take a lot of supplies or secure what we need OSR, because we can't come back after we land or the locals might get suspicious."

One deck officer asked "What keeping them from just massacring all of them right now?"

"Good question, Intelligence thinks this guy Bowser believes that would undermine his legitimacy as king. As it is, the government is engaged in long distance hostage negotiation but we think his ultimate goal is permanent absolute monarchy over the planet."

"So is this op to kill to capture?"

"Federation says they prefer capture, but if we can't, they understand."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Alright, _Judicator, _ready when you are."

"Aye, _Chozo Fury, _We are starting the descent."

Snake grit his teeth. He was used to silent drops but this Pit was freaking out.

"What going on?" (Metallic shriek followed by turbulence) What was that?" Pit half sobbed.

"Goddess of light, calm down kid!" Snake snarled "When you silent drop, the changing atmospheric pressure creates turbulence, and whenever you enter the atmosphere from space, heat builds on the underside of the ship and its compensators redirect it away from vulnerable areas, resulting in a noise just like that one. Our pilot knows what she is doing. Just look at the floor and count to five hundred."

Samus sighed. They had been arguing the whole way on everything from tactics to what shade of orange her, HER, Varia suit was. "If you two don't want to end up as paste, then shut up!"

Pit whimpered softly as the ship shook again. Snake growled under his breath and turned to watching screen readouts of the supplies that the gunship carried, running rations numbers in his head.

Bowser's Castle

_**Throne Room**_

"Sire, I have the most dreadful news!"

Bowser leveled his gaze on the magikoopa kneeling before him. "Rise and tell me this news."

Kamek caught his breath, "The Yoshi have stopped their activities. No Yoshi has even been seen in the past couple of days."

"This is bad news?" Bowser inquired.

"Well, it is my feeling that they are planning something truly horrific against your grace!"

Bowser thought this over. His first thought was that the Yoshi had simply given up. Truly, no one could stand against his might for very long. However, Kamek was his most trusted advisor for the simple reason that his instincts were rarely ever wrong. "Where are the Mario bros? Their actions dictate what the Yoshi will do."

"We have seen not one mustache hair of those two in weeks!"

Bowser digested this information. It wasn't like his nemesis to just drop off the face of the planet. "Do we have any intel at all?"

Bowser Jr. spoke up, "The information we last heard was that they were seen fleeing a pursuing Lakitu about, oh three, three and a half weeks ago. That was when we cracked down on the smuggling out at Delfino."

"Nasty business that. Well, about all we can do is start sweeping the islands that the Yoshi are known to inhabit. Send some shy guys, mixed variety, and a few dry bones to the outlying provinces. Also start a new interrogation session on the Toadstools, see what you can shake loose. Son, relay messages to your siblings; tell them what has been said here and ask if they need reinforcements. I'll fly out to Koopahari Desert and oversee the garrison there. Kamek, you are to take a clutch of magikoopa and head to Sky Land." Bowser paused "Oh and son, you're in charge here while I am gone."

Yoshi Island

_**Op LZ "Area 2"**_

" So how do we contact the Yoshi?" Pit asked

Scanning the tree line, Samus responded, "They are supposed to find us."

This plan looked bad when they saw where the Yoshi had requested they drop. A temperate deciduous forest, the canopy was hard to fly through and since the pilot of the marine's ship was no where near as good as Samus was, any recon pilots would see where they had landed. Now the two ships were parallel to each, about ten paces apart.

Snake appeared, lugging a sack full of local berries and various mushrooms. "I thought we could eat these to stretch out our rations."

"We shouldn't be here that long." Samus stated

"You would be surprised." Snake sighed. "Guerrillas are notoriously unreliable, I remember one miss…" A flash in the trees caught his eye. He slowly started to unholster his ray gun, trying not to give away the fact that he saw it.

Samus and Pit followed his glances and did the same, Samus pretended to be checking her beam cannon and Pit the tautness his bowstring.

Suddenly all at once the trees around the started to rustle and a flock of Yoshi emerged and formed a loose circle around the camp. They were many colored; the leader seemed to be a red one who was carrying a green tortoise shell. After the marines (most of whom didn't see the Yoshi in the tree line) gathered their wits, the leader Yoshi descended into their landing zone and came up to Samus.

"Are you the bounty hunter?"

_**Guerilla Camp**_

**"_Yoshi's House"_**

Genius. That is about the only word you can use to describe the guerilla camp. The only truly visible building was a medium-sized hut perched on top of a hill. The rest were either innocuous or concealed in the trees. An extensive network of tunnels ran under the ground containing everything the local authorities might find questionable. The house was surrounded from the south to the east by trees and large fields of coffee, bananas, peppers, and melons and was spaced intermediately to the north and west.

"Quite a little setup they got here." one of the marine commented.

"They been fighting since most of us were babies." Samus responded.

A yellow Yoshi came up. "Your ships have been hid in old store houses over there." He motioned towards a pair of nondescript buildings in the trees. "They will fool anyone who doesn't actually open the doors. Try not to go in and out. The shells have spies everywhere."

Guerilla training ground

Snake studied at his opponent. The Yoshi was orange in color,his head cocked back like a snake, his tiny hands clawed, his eyes dilated and faintly glowing in the dim light. They circled each other slowly, looking for that one misstep. Suddenly the Yoshi lunged! Snake rolled, tried to bring his leg up for a kick to the neck, but felt a pull. He looked over, finding a huge red tongue stuck to his left forearm. Snake clawed into the ground, finding purchase with a tree root. He grabbed hold, playing tug-o-war with the Yoshi's tongue, then when the Yoshi gave a mighty tug, let go. The momentum carried him, fist first into the Yoshi's throat. Gasping for air, the Yoshi released his grip and signaled he was done.

"My god! If we Yoshi didn't have such thick necks, he would be dead by now!" the instructor, a white Yoshi, declared.

"If I was weaker, he would have had free meal." Snake countered.

Roars of laugher greeted that statement.

Chapel House

Pit sat in the pews as the priest, an aging green Yoshi, thundered his sermon. He listened to him, a fire and brimstone speech about the wickedness of the King of the Koopa and how his existence had brought untold misery and sorrow to the Yoshi.

"I tell you now, that this wicked demon, this false king, is not fit to behold the light of the eternal. He has robbed, he has profaned, he has committed act of villainy that assured will earn him a place in the boiling cesspools of the underworld. But worst of all he has taken our children, OUR CHILDREN! He attempted to say, "These people are not to live in the glory of the light, they are only fit to live the harsh cold of the Underworld!"

Pit listened. The blood in him began to boil. Truly, this Bowser was an evil creature. He would suffer the fate of all those who tried to lead the faithful astray. Pit made a promise to himself that he got the chance; Bowser would taste the eternal torment that awaited him in death.

Command Post

_**Somewhere underground**_

"Lady and gentlemen, this is what we've got, Big Bomb-omb is located in a cavern system about two hundred clicks on the other side of the island. The plan is a simple extraction, however we will be walking." (Groans from various assembled people) "Yes, you humans actually have to do some walking. However; I have a very important announcement to make, our leader himself is coming!"

Upon hearing this the Yoshi became noticeable excited. Pit, however, leaned over to Samus and asked, "Who is their leader?"

Every Yoshi in the room turned to look at them. Their faces looked like they had seen just seen Pit eat his own head. After a deep silence, one red Yoshi stuttered, "Uh, our leader is Mario."

When Pit didn't suddenly become awed, the Yoshi became anxious. One of the green Yoshi took it upon himself to convert Pit. "Mario is the hero of this and many other worlds; he has saved the Toadstools from Bowser, Bowser from Count Bleck, and Count Bleck from a raging mob. He is the first man who asked, "What is good for the Yoshi? Without him we would be pack animals and pets (Not a few of the marines shifted uncomfortably) He taught us there was a life beyond that."

Samus spoke up "So, when does he get here?"

The speaker (The red Yoshi who found them at the landing zone) looked at his speech cards "Oh, about five hours from now."

Five hours later

The atmosphere was electric. All the Yoshi had spent the last few hours preparing a fest of fish, fruits, and fowl. They now eagerly scanned the western horizon, waiting for Mario and companions to ride from the sunset. When the watchmen out side of camp radioed in that he was only a few thousand meters from camp and would be in sight soon, the younger ones (and some ones that where not so young) squealed and everyone gather around the entrance he would use.

"Hey, what you a guys a-looking over that way for?" A voice said behind the crowd.

The crowd turned and cried out in delight. "Mario, Mario!" they shouted as they rushed towards him and his mount, Yoshi. "Ciao i miei amici!" Mario shouted and waved as they gathered around him "Now where is my brother?"

"Right here, Mario!" Luigi shouted as he and the rest of their traveling group, a motley collection of Yoshi, Toads, and even a few Noki and Pianta rode in from the west. They were a convoy loaded down with everything from food, blankets, medicines, and various other sundries. The Yoshi turned the cheer them on, although somewhat less excitedly then they had for Mario.

Two Days later

_**12:00:00** _

Donut Plains

The platoon moved swiftly over the grassy plains. They edged up to the curtain wall of ancient fortress. Suddenly they herd a loud rumble. The marines switched on cross-com and the scanner image from the _Steadfast _showed what looked like a herd of triceratops. "Hold on!" Mario whispered "Sometimes Shy Guys like to hide themselves as herd animals." Samus, Snake, and Mario quietly moved forward through the ruins and sure enough, they spied a small herd of Dino Rhino and Torch Rhino were moving southeast. Switching on her scanner, Samus peered around her cover and the scanner counted five Torch Rhino who didn't register normally. Snake crept forward, towards the last one in the herd. He seemed to be a straggler, taking his time to catch up. Snake threw a stone at him, catching his attention. He froze, allowing Snake to rush forward, snag him in a football tackle, and drag him silently back to the waiting group. The rest of the herd tromped on, unaware.

Ripping off his gillie hide, they found out he was hung over.

"Hey man, what are you Yoshi doing here?" the Shy Guy then saw the marines and broke into a string of fairly imaginative curses. "That means you guys are aren't really going to cut a deal, are you? He held his head, trying to fight through his headache.

"If you're good and tell us what we want to know, maybe there is a flask of sour mash in it for you." Samus cooed.

"Not my king." the Shy Guy grumbled "what do you want to know?"

"Vanilla Dome is ahead, correct?"

(Sigh) "Yeah."

"What do you know?"

"Big Bomb is nestled inside. He is having a grand old time while I'm out here. He has those twitchy bomb-omb dirt-bags in patrols that change randomly because he doesn't have the numbers to watch all the entrances in force. You'll find him in Lemmy's old castle. Or rather you'll find him in what's left of Lemmy's old castle. Supposedly we Shy Guys will come to his rescue if he gets attacked, but if that time comes, we might just get mysterious radio interference that prevents us from hearing him."

_**13:30:24**_

Vanilla Dome Entrance

The fire teams moved forward and slowly edged their way into the cave. The Shy Guy seemed to be telling the truth. The entrance they chose was unguarded. Slowly, they made their way through the tunnel until the first fire and maneuver found the central dome.

The dome is an immense beautifully carved ramiform cavern that somehow got bits of quartz and zircon stuck in the walls and floor with massive frostwork deposits and when the light from holes in the ceiling and the faint illumination of distant Koopa lanterns hit them the effect was dazzling. Even jaded Snake was caught breathless by it. Soon however the effect wore off and Samus look forward. Lemmy's old castle was barely visible in the distance. Beyond a massive subterranean lake, it was tucked into what the Yoshi called King's Table, a large plateau at the far end.

"The Koopa can't see very well in the darkness, so they rely on bomb-ombs to create something of a moving minefield. We should be all right if you don't do anything stupid. Stick near the edge of the crystals, it really messes with night vision for most life forms and the rapidly changing light give anyone with natural night vision," Mario pointed at a Yoshi " massive headaches."

"How do we get across the lake?" Samus asked.

"Swim very quietly. The Koopa put sound dampeners because the nonstop clack of bomb-omb feet drives anyone mad."

_**16:45:17**_

_**Lemmy's Ruins**_

The platoon assembled in sight of the ruins. With luck they had managed to avoid the bomb-ombs and since the sentries couldn't see very well, they were dependent on the exploding bomb-ombs to alert them. The "castle" in question was more of a large turreted bunker. It had no curtain wall and only one door and the turrets on either side of it where in pretty bad shape. Still two Koopa gamely maintained a watch, trying to peer into the darkness. Pit silently landed on the roof of one, swiftly entered the building, and threw him into the back wall. The Koopa trooper the other tower had scarcely enough time to look before a light arrow hit him in the throat. A marine set demo charges on the door while everyone else took breach-firing positions. The charges blew and Snake tossed in a grenade.

"Frag out!" Snake yelled. It blew and the first squad point fired into the lobby. Second squad moved in and secured the lobby. Third Squad leapfrogged past them and shotgun breached the door to the main complex. Tossing grenades in, they received quite a nasty shock, Bullet Bills. The huge projectiles were from an automated turret. They exploded, killing three marines and driving the rest back. Samus worked her way forward and fired a super missile dead on it. It exploded and the Fourth Squad leapfrogged and secured the hall. ten doors where in this hall. Samus ordered the Marines to split up and find the target. The results were horrific. The Koopa had entrenched themselves in every room and intended to make the marines pay in blood for every door taken. When the final room was secure, the team paused a bit to tally. Out of the original five squads, two were critical and two others had taken a serious beating. Only one squad was still at optimal strength. Samus gathered them, Mario Pit, Snake, and headed towards what the marines reported was the door to the throne room. Finding it open, they slowly slipped inside, taking cover behind pillars. Samus scanned the room trying to see where the target was. Not finding him, she slowly stepped out into the center of the room, ice beam charged.

Then a platform descended. On it was a bomb-omb of immense size. Its cold eyes stared out over a white mustache. On it's head was perched a golden crown.

Samus pointed her arm cannon at him. "The jig is up. Surrender now and the Federation may be lenient with you."

It stared back at her. "I," the behemoth spoke in a rumbling voice that sounded like thunder "have never been so insulted! To think that I, a loyal vassal of his majesty, would capitulate is unthinkable! Feel my wrath, tiny peasant!"

With that he launched himself, trying to squish Samus beneath his bulk. Samus dodged, rolled around, and tried to come up with a plan. He was far too large for Ice Spreader, and any thing she used to destroy him would send the whole place up. He turned around and came at her again. Samus, thinking fast, shot at his eyes and dodged out of the way. Big Bomb-omb roared with fury and tried to remove the ice. Stumbling around blindly, he knocked over a pillar, then flailing, worked his way the door. The rest of Samus's group ran for new cover while the behemoth tried to grab them. Eyes stinging from the intense cold, he started to bang his head against the floor, trying to crack the ice. He started to succeed, but then fissures started to show around his casing. Panicking the marines, Pit, and Snake bolted out the door. Samus hit Big Bomb-omb again, this time at his feet. He tripped and howled, then started to rock back and forth shrieking. His casing started to glow red and Samus hightailed out of there back into the hallway. All around her, marines where picking up their comrades, and Mario was guiding them to the back way out. The Koopa forces guarding the exit where in complete disarray. They had heard of what happened and were fleeing as fast as a group of turtles could. The whole spectacle made it all the way to the soda lake when he blew. A massive rumble shook ground sending the whole group sprawling as the exit caved in.

_**18:30:10**_

_**Soda Lake shore**_

Samus gathered the troops. She took head count and found that out of 53 personnel she had started with, twelve were dead, and twenty three were wounded. The Koopa had long since fled and intel said they were in no hurry to come back. The Yoshi had dispatched a few of their people to help them get back to HQ. Pit and Snake were over by the wounded, trying to use their limited medical skill to shore up the wounded for proper care.

"Well, I suppose that was a victory." Snake said dryly.

"More victories like this and we will soon be undone!" Pit hissed, totally missing Snake's sarcasm.

"Do you have a problem with my leadership, Pit?" Samus inquired.

Pit sighed, "No, I don't see how either of us could have done better. But to do so poorly!"

Snake consoled "That what happens in war, kid. All the decisions you make are the wrong ones."

"I suppose."


End file.
